Senator asks for more money for Cavan council housing grants

Cavan County Council had to "temporarily pause" grants schemes because of lack of funds

Cavan-based Senator Pauline Tully has raised “urgent concerns” about Cavan County Council’s decision to pause applications for housing grant schemes because of a lack of funding.

Two weeks ago, Cavan County Council stopped accepting applications for the housing adaptation, mobility aids and housing aid for older people grants calling the move a “temporary pause”.

In a statement the council said the measure was “regrettable but necessary” to ensure existing commitments are met and to prioritise those applicants with the most urgent medical and care needs.

Senator Tully said the council had to cease processing the grants with immediate effect, “having exhausted its current funding”.

“The reason the council needs to pause the grants with immediate effect is that it has run out of funding,” she said in a statement of her own.

The senator added that she fully supports the council’s submission to the Department of Housing for additional funding and called on the Minister for Housing to provide the money needed.

“The grants are very important because they allow older people and disabled people to continue living in their own homes,” Pauline Tully said, “They reduce the possibility of accidents and prevent hospitalisation, nursing home care, and the requirement for home care," she explained.

Speaking under the Seanad's order of business last week, the Sinn Féin senator urged the Minister for Housing James Browne, to provide the funding for Cavan and any other local authority that finds itself in a similar position to “allow people to continue living in their own homes.”